Nine individuals, including the paramount chief of Baloum, have been indicted and remanded at the Dschang central prison in connection with the double murder of two young men in western Cameroon.
New developments have emerged in the case of two young men burned alive in Baloum. On Thursday, June 25, the chief of Baloum and eight other suspects were formally charged and taken to the Dschang central prison. According to the legal representative for the family of Steve Diffo, the chief and his co-defendants face charges of murder, torture, complicity in murder and torture, and lack of a national identity card. “No human being, even one sentenced to death by the law, should suffer such a fate,” the lawyer declared.
The case centers on Bostel Kemta and his friend Steve Achille Diffo Sijamo. The two men in their thirties were abducted, tortured, and set on fire on June 5 in Baloum, in the West region of Cameroon. The acts were allegedly carried out by local residents under the watch of village chief Charles Constant Pokam Noussi. The chief, implicated for his purported role, surrendered to authorities on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.
Two complaints have been filed by the victims’ families. The first was lodged at the Penka-Miche gendarmerie brigade, the administrative center of the district covering Baloum village. The second complaint was submitted directly to the state prosecutor, who expressed surprise at not having been notified of such serious crimes.
